Ju Mei,†,‡,∥ Nelson L. C. Leung,†,‡,∥ Ryan T. K. Kwok,†,‡ Jacky W. Y. Lam,†,‡ and Ben Zhong Tang*,†,‡,§ †HKUST-Shenzhen Research Institute, Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan, Shenzhen 518057, China ‡Department of Chemistry, HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study, Institute of Molecular Functional Materials, Division of Biomedical Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience, Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China Guangdong Innovative Research Team, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China

Aggregation-Induced Emission: Together We Shine, United We Soar!

"United we stand, divided we fall."--Aesop. Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) refers to a photophysical phenomenon shown by a group of luminogenic materials that are non-emissive when they are dissolved in good solvents as molecules but become highly luminescent when they are clustered in poor solvents or solid state as aggregates. In this Review we summarize the recent progresses made in the area of AIE research. We conduct mechanistic analyses of the AIE processes, unify the restriction of intramolecular motions (RIM) as the main cause for the AIE effects, and derive RIM-based molecular engineering strategies for the design of new AIE luminogens (AIEgens). Typical examples of the newly developed AIEgens and their high-tech applications as optoelectronic materials, chemical sensors and biomedical probes are presented and discussed.

Aggregation-Induced Emission: The Whole Is More Brilliant than the Parts

Yuming Yang,†,§ Qiang Zhao,‡,§ Wei Feng,† and Fuyou Li*,† †Department of Chemistry and State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, P. R. China ‡Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays (KLOEID) and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210046, P. R. China.

Luminescent chemodosimeters for bioimaging.

Functional π-Gelators and Their Applications

Applications of Supramolecular Anion Recognition

A luminescent cadmium–pamoate metal–organic framework, [Cd2(PAM)2(dpe)2(H2O)2]⋅0.5(dpe) (1), has been synthesized under hydrothermal conditions by using π-electron-rich ligands 4,4′-methylenebis(3-hydroxy-2-naphthalenecarboxylic acid) (H2PAM) and 1,2-di(4-pyridyl)ethylene (dpe). Its structure is composed of both mononuclear and dinuclear CdII building units, which are linked by the PAM and dpe ligands, resulting in a (4,8)-connected 3D framework. The π-conjugated dpe guests are located in a 1D channel of 1. The strong emission of 1 could be quenched efficiently by trace amounts of 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP), even in the presence of other competing analogues such as 4-nitrophenol, 2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, nitrobenzene, 1,3-dinitrobenzene, hydroquinone, dimethylbenzene, and bromobenzene. The high sensitivity and selectivity of the fluorescence response of 1 to TNP shows that this framework could be used as an excellent sensor for identifying and quantifying TNP. In the same manner, 1 also exhibits superior selectivity and sensitivity towards Cu2+ compared with other metal ions such as Zn2+, Mn2+, Mg2+, K+, Na+, Ni2+, Co2+, and Ca2+. This is the first MOF that can serve as a dual functional fluorescent sensor for selectively detecting trace amounts of TNP and Cu2+.

Highly Selective Detection of 2,4,6‐Trinitrophenol and Cu2+ Ions Based on a Fluorescent Cadmium–Pamoate Metal–Organic Framework

The porous hierarchical MgO with superb adsorption properties has been synthesized by a facile and scaled-up method. The X-ray powder diffraction, electron microscopy, Fourier transformed infrared, and N2 adsorption–desorption were carried out to study the microstructure of the as-synthesized precursor and product. It has been demonstrated that the as-prepared MgO has a porous hierarchical structure and a high specific surface area (148 m2 g–1). And the MgO sample exhibited super adsorption properties, with maximum adsorption capacity of 2409 mg g–1 for Congo red, which is the highest reported value. Moreover, the adsorption process of Congo red on porous hierarchical MgO was systematically investigated, which was found to obey the pseudo-second-order rate equation and Langmuir adsorption model.

Junwei Ye

Papers

Highly Selective Detection of 2,4,6‐Trinitrophenol and Cu2+ Ions Based on a Fluorescent Cadmium–Pamoate Metal–Organic Framework

Synthesis of Porous Hierarchical MgO and Its Superb Adsorption Properties

Enhanced luminescent properties of long-persistent Sr2MgSi2O7:Eu2+, Dy3+ phosphor prepared by the co-precipitation method

Preparation of sintered foam materials by alkali-activated coal fly ash

Electrospun fibrous mat based on silver (I) metal-organic frameworks-polylactic acid for bacterial killing and antibiotic-free wound dressing